The Stars of our Orchestra - Orchestra Nova San Diego

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Concerts
A conversation with our soloist, Erin Breene
Tell us about your “growing up” years.
Where did you live and what was your
family life like?
My dad is a retired farmer who
worked for the U.S. Dept. of
Agriculture, and my mom is a retired
social worker. They live on the family
farm of a few hundred acres in
Adams, Wisconsin, where they grow
and sell all of their own vegetables.
As a child, I always played music.
It was an important part of my life,
but I still had time to play with my
friends, watch TV, all of the normal
“kid” things. But what I loved most of
all was being outside. I spent most of
my weekends outdoors helping in the
fields. I developed an absolute love of
nature and the idea of “wilderness.”
My family also owns a small cabin in a very isolated area of
Michigan. I remember sitting on the front porch swing and
reading for hours. I would also take my cello up to the cabin
and practice, sometimes even outside in the yard! It was such a
different experience to play in the woods away from all of the
noise of everyday life. These are some of my best memories.
What were some of your early childhood music experiences?
Although I don’t remember it, I’m told that I began
“playing” the cello when I was 15 months old, using the
Suzuki method. The cello was actually a detergent box
with a yardstick stuck through the end and a wooden
stick as a bow. I was sort of an experiment in the program.
At the age of two, I graduated to a cello converted from a
viola. Apparently, I performed in my first recital before age
Cello Concerto No. 1
Lost — and found 200 years later
This work was presumed lost until 1961 when
the score was discovered at the Prague National
Museum. Only its first two measures were known
from the handwritten catalog Haydn had kept of
his own works. Based on its style, scholars have
dated the Cello Concerto in C major from between
1762 and 1765. It’s an early work, from the first years
of his tenure at Esterhazy, composed for Joseph
Weigl, a gifted cellist in the Esterhazy orchestra.
It belongs to that transitional period between
Baroque and Classicism, whose greatest
three; however, I really don’t have any
memories of those first years. Since I
didn’t learn to read music until I was
eight or so, I learned the first three
Suzuki Books completely from memory.
What was your formal training as a
young adult?
During my college years, I mostly just
practiced a lot! I was so inspired by
my teachers at both Rice and Juilliard.
One of my best experiences was
attending the Tanglewood Institute.
I was playing all day long under
conductors like Segei Ozawa, Andre
Previn, James Conlan and others. My
chair at the festival was sponsored by
none other than singer/songwriter
James Taylor. He came to introduce
himself after a concert. How cool is that? James Taylor was
waiting backstage to meet me!
What one thing would we find surprising or unexpected
about you?
Probably that Bob Dylan is my favorite non-classical
musician and composer. I seem to identify with him in some
strange, unexplainable way. I have seen him perform live
five times now. I’ve read multiple biographies and have
spent many hours listening to his songs. I continue to find
new meaning in his lyrics.
How about one more thing about you that might interest us?
I am a huge fan of California wines, and I’ve visited the wine
regions of Napa, Santa Barbara County and the Carmel/
Monterrey region in search of the best Pinot Noir.
representative Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach had a
strong influence on the young Haydn.
Only the best cellists need apply
The solo part is extremely demanding, with
rapid passagework that frequently ascends to
the instrument’s highest register. The second
movement calls for an exceptionally beautiful
tone, and the last movement calls for uncommon
brilliance and stamina.
Surely, Joseph Weigl must have been one of the
outstanding players of his time. Just as our own
Erin Breene is a truly outstanding cellist...up to the
task of playing this beautiful concerto.
Orfeo ed Euridice Overture
It was a good deal for Haydn
The year was 1790. Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy
had died, and Haydn had traveled to
London where he was found by Johann
Peter Salomon, the great German-born
violinist and impresario. Salomon had read of
the Prince’s death while recruiting singers
in Cologne and had hastened to Vienna to
engage Haydn and, if possible, Mozart as
well (but Mozart was already committed to
composing Die Zauberflöte and was not free).
Salomon was a brilliant businessman and
his proposal to Haydn was so attractive that
the composer could hardly refuse: 3,000
gulden from another great impresario, Sir
John Gallini, director of the King’s Theatre in
the Haymarket, for a new opera.
The official title of the opera was L’anima del
filosofo but it was often referred to as Orfeo
ed Euridice, under which name it was also
published by Breitkopf & Hartel in 1806.
Symphony No. 45 (Farewell)
The poet Carlo Francesco Badini wrote the
libretto. His main source for the libretto
was the myth of Orpheus and Euridice as
told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
The premiere performance occurred
150 years later
By the end of the 1791 season, it was
obvious that Haydn’s new opera was
not going to be performed at the King’s
Theatre, Haymarket, because of a dispute
between King George III and the Prince
of Wales. Haydn, in any case, scrupulously
fulfilled the terms of his contract, since the
3,000 gulden had already been deposited
in his bank account.
Orfeo ed Euridice was the last of Haydn’s 24
operas, and it was never performed during
his lifetime. In fact, it wasn’t performed
until 1951 in Florence with a cast that
included Maria Callas.
It’s time to go home
Summer was over — winter was on its
way. The stay at Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy’s
summer palace had been longer than
expected and the musicians were anxious
to get back to their families at home.
Farewell, Prince Nikolaus
This symphony, nicknamed the Farewell
Symphony, owes its nickname to a bit
of theatrics written by Haydn into the
music. True to his commitment to “go to
bat” for his musicians and using his wellknown
sense of humor, he wrote the
coda of the final movement by having
small pockets of musicians taper off,
stop playing, pinch out their candles and
get up and leave — as if too exhausted
to continue. Bits of orchestra continue
to flake away until only two violinists
remain. They valiantly play through to
their final strains. Then they pinch out
their candles and get up and leave.
What a hint to Prince Nikolas! He got
the message, and the musicians were
allowed to go home the next day!
Did you know?
Aloysia Apollonia Keller, the sister
of Therese, with whom he had
previously been in love — by
most accounts, it was an unhappy
marriage.
and occasionally played in string
quartets together.
composer who lived under the
patronage system.
The “Sturm und Drang” period
Although the story of the frustrated
musicians is always associated with this
symphony, it is worth noting that this
symphony has always been immensely
popular and is considered to be one of
Haydn’s best symphonies. It was one of his
“Sturm und Drang” (“Storm and Stress”)
symphonies, composed during the 1770s.
Haydn’s “Sturm und Drang,” or Romantic,
period show him as a composer of ripe
technique and fervent imagination. The
symphonies of these years are considered
to be among his best works. All are on a
larger scale than the symphonies of the
previous decades, and they are much
more dramatic, with unexpected changes
from forte to piano and many crescendos.
The slow movements have a romantically
expressive warmth.
He was one of the last great masters of the
Classical period, and his forward thinking
and imagination echoed throughout
the Romantic period, influencing future
composers of all genres.
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